Do smoking bans apply to e-cigarettes? [View all]

[The Straight Story]

Do smoking bans apply to e-cigarettes?

WASHINGTON -- Smoking's not allowed on Washington's Metro system. But what about e-smoking?

I was riding on the Orange Line recently when I saw a woman holding what I thought was a high-end felt-tip marker. It had a round barrel that tapered to a narrower point. Then she stuck the narrow end in her mouth, sucked, and blew out a white cloud.

It didn't smell like cigarette smoke, at least from where I was sitting. It seemed like more of a vapor. And, indeed, that's what it was.

The modern nicotine-delivery device -- the electronic cigarette - doesn't produce smoke. Nicotine-infused liquid is heated, creating a vapor that the user inhales and then exhales.

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People are still figuring out how to treat the devices. The Department of Transportation said it was going to ban them on airline flights and then decided to defer to individual airlines. In Hawaii, the buses of the Oahu Transit Services implemented a ban May 1.

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In 2010, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II ruled that the state's smoking ban does not apply to electronic cigarettes. On the other hand, the D.C. Council is considering the Electronic Cigarette Parity Amendment Act of 2013, which would classify fake cigarettes pretty much the same as real ones.

http://www.kjonline.com/opinion/do-smoking-bans-apply-to-e-cigarettes__2013-05-20.html